


You Came Back

by westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist



Category: The West Wing
Genre: F/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-12-06
Updated: 2008-12-06
Packaged: 2019-05-15 04:30:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,418
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14783616
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist/pseuds/westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist
Summary: ED1 - what might have happened if when Donna went back to Josh's hotel room, the whole campaign wasn't there.





	You Came Back

**Author's Note:**

> A copy of this work was once archived at National Library, a part of the [ West Wing Fanfiction Central](https://fanlore.org/wiki/West_Wing_Fanfiction_Central), a West Wing fanfiction archive. More information about the Open Doors approved archive move can be found in the [announcement post](http://archiveofourown.org/admin_posts/8325).

“You came back.” 

“I did.” 

“And you brought me coffee.” 

“Well, you might be out of a job today, so I figured what the hell, right?” 

“Nah, I’m indestructable.” Josh smirked playfully. 

“This is true.” she said inadvertently. 

“Is it?” he asked turning to her. 

“It seems like it sometimes.” she shrugged and looked down at the table where she was setting down her styrofoam coffee cup. “Listen, last night was...” 

“Don’t say weird.” He said quickly. 

“I wasn’t going to.” she smiled slowly. 

“Because...I don’t know, just don’t say weird.” 

“I would not have defined it as weird.” 

“Thank you.” 

“But it was strange.” 

“Donna!” 

“I mean for us, Josh.” she said sitting down in the chair at the table while he moved and sat on the bed. She found that inherently interesting that he actually sat down to talk to her and didn’t opt to pace. 

“Yeah, I know.” He agreed softly, looking down at his hands. 

“I guess I thought it would be different.” 

“Different?” he snapped his head back up to hers and raised his eyebrows. “You didn’t like it?” 

“No, I did!” she readily assured and then blushed. “I definitely did.” He smiled when he saw her blush. She had changed so much and changed into this beautiful and self-confident woman...who scared the hell out of him... a woman who learned to hold things at arm’s length, especially him. 

“There’s so much, I don’t know where to start.” she said and let out a nervous breath. 

“I don’t know, Donna, but I think tonight was a pretty good start.” 

“Josh!” She rolled her eyes. 

“I’m serious!” he defended. “Donna, how am I supposed to hide anything from someone who just saw me naked? In fact, seeing me naked was the only thing of me that you hadn’t seen in nine years.” 

His statement gave her the confidence boost she needed to admit her worst fear. “I don’t want to be a hit and run, Josh.” 

“I don’t want to be closure, Donna.” he countered. 

“Closure?” she asked surprised. “Is that what you think it is?” 

“I hope it’s not.” He said. “It would kill me if it were, but after the way you left and what happened when you came for an interview, and when you came back and the things you said, why wouldn’t I think it was closure?” 

She supposed he had a point, but still...it hurt to hear. 

“You’re not closure, Josh.” 

“You’re not hit and run.” 

“If you were closure this would be easy.” 

“If you were hit and run this would be over by now.” 

“Okay, so we got that settled.” she smiled letting out a shuddered breath. She looked over at him in his t-shirt and boxers and hair delightfully messed up, looking oh so vulnerable and laid bare to her right now, it had been ages since she saw this in him...well, a little over a year now, and she decided that she had to be closer to him. When she moved to sit by him, he held up his hand to her. 

“Don’t you dare come over here!” he halted. 

“What?” 

“You stay over there.” he said pointing to the chair she just stood up from. 

“Why?” 

“If you come over here, we’ll never talk.” 

“Josh!” she laughed. 

“I’m not kidding. I’ve wanted you in a bed with me for nine years, Donna, and if you come and sit on this bed with me, I’m going to want to do stuff with you. We’ve got to get the groundwork laid first here.” he said with finality and shooed her back to her seat with his hand. 

“Josh...” she pouted. 

“And don’t you dare pout at me.” 

“But I want to be by you.” she said, ignoring his order. 

“Don’t...come on, Donna, don’t say things like that.” His tone had gone from steely resolve to slightly pleading and she knew he was starting to cave, but stopped when he said, “This is important to me. I want something with you that’s not based on sex. It never was before.” 

Well, crap, she thought. How could she deny him that? 

“I don’t want things to feel weird every time it gets quiet.” 

“Oh, so now who’s saying weird?” 

“Well, as usual, you’ve changed my mind.” he smiled. 

“I needed to know, Josh.” she said. Thank God he had gotten used to her lighting conversation changes. 

“Needed to know what?” 

“Whether I was good without you or if it was all just you.” 

“Oh.” he wasn’t really sure how to take that. “And?” 

“Well, I am.” she smiled and he broke eye contact. “But it’s not any fun or good without you. It doesn’t mean anything if I can’t see your pride in me.” 

“Yeah, I know.” He smiled looking back at her. “And I am proud of you, Donna. Whatever happened over the last year, that never changed.” 

She blushed and looked down and when she looked back up at him, she had tears in her eyes. 

“It’s true.” he nodded smiling. 

“Stop.” she said, wiping her eyes, but she cried anyway, and despite his mandate, launched herself from her chair into his arms and hugged him. “Thank you.” 

“How could you think I wouldn’t be?” 

“I thought you were pissed.” 

“It didn’t mean that I stopped caring about you, Donna.” 

“I know.” she said pulling away and pushing her hair out of her face. “I guess it just means a lot to hear you say that.” 

“Evidently.” he said lightheartedly. “I guess I never actually said the words, and now I feel like a schmuck for it.” 

“It’s important that you’re saying it now.” 

“I should have told you in the interview from hell. But I felt...” 

“Backed into a corner.” she nodded. “You were pissed at me still, I know.” 

“It was just that you finally did what I wanted you to do.” he said. “I never wanted you to work for me so long originally, Donna. I wanted you to grow and move on, but I hadn’t planned on getting as incredibly attached to you as I did. I put my whole life in your hands and your control and I never anticipated doing that, but you just made it so damn easy. You made everything so easy. So when you left and you were finally doing what I wanted for you, I was pissed that when something didn’t work you came back to me instead of trying something else. I was pissed because I thought it was a step backwards for you.” 

“Yeah?” 

“Well, and I didn’t have any warning that you were coming.” he confessed. 

“It wasn’t one of my more shining moments.” she laughed nervously. 

“But I was also happy you did.” he confessed. “I was happy that you still felt something... anything...and that you wanted to come to me when you needed something fixed.” 

“I never stopped feeling... I never stopped...” she had a hard time finding her words. She wanted to say everything she needed to at once and felt like she couldn’t get any of it out. 

“Say it.” he coaxed and she took a deep breath. “Donna, I promise you if you’re going to say what I think you’re going to say, what I hope you’re going to say, I’m going say it, too.” 

She looked back up at him and whispered, “I never stopped loving you.” 

“Me either.” he smiled. He moved to kiss her, but... 

“Josh!” she shouted. 

“What?” 

“You said you’d say it!” she said indignantly. 

“I did!” 

“You did not! You said ‘me either.’” she crossed her arms and pouted. 

“Donnatella...” he said softly as he brushed her hair aside and kissed her neck. That was making it hard for her to be indignant. “I never stopped loving you either.” he finally whispered against her ear. 

She groaned as he started kissing all around her neck and she tilted her head to the side to grant him better access. He brought his hand up to her cheek and gently turned her face to his to kiss her and she thought after all that and this that she just might faint. 

“So, do you think we’ll get better at it then?” she smiled when he pulled away for a moment. 

“The sex? I think it might kill me if we get better at that. But this,” he said waving his finger between them. “I think so.” 

~THE END~


End file.
